987 v 986 Air box

[The Radium King]

is up to you.

first, some nomenclature.

the maf is the sensor. the 986 maf is the same as the 987 maf.

the maf housing is the tube the maf mounts to. on the 986 it is part of the airbox. on the 987 it is a separate tube that attaches to the airbox.

the 986 maf housing is a smaller diameter than the 987 maf housing. the computer multiplies the maf reading by the cross-sectional area of the tube to determine flow. so, change the tube diameter and confuse the computer.

if you do not wish to do a flash then saw the maf housing off of your 986 airbox and plumb it all together. the 987 maf housing is not required.

otherwise, if you plumb it all together using the 987 maf housing then you need a flash that will work with this larger diameter. for a 2000 the solution is a 996 flash. the 996 of the same year had the larger intake tract and the 3.2 runs just fine with this flash. your dealer should be able to provide for you, or anyone with a piwis or pst2 contraption.

the benefits of the latter option are twofold; using the larger diameter maf housing removes a restriction to airflow. second, the thinking is that porsche neutered the boxster so as to not compete with the 996. otherwise a 3.2 should not be 50 hp down on a 3.4. there's only 3 places that can happen - exhaust, intake, ecu (fuelling, timing). so, an ebay exhaust, clean up the intake as much as you can (pro tip - bolt an intake manifold from a 3.4 onto your car) and 996 tune.

Originally Posted by Pololo_Boxster

Reviving this thread, if it's OK with members..

I am going to start doing this upgrade with my 2000 Boxster 986S..

So far I have the following:
1) 987.1 Airbox with the MAF section
2) 74mm TB from the 997
3) Plenum from the same 997

Still a bit confused if I either need to use the 987 MAF or the 986 MAF along with these upgrades?

If I go with the current 986MAF, do I need to have it tuned?

When do I need to have it tuned? if so, what's the best way to do this?

My apologies if this has been covered already... I read through all 16 pages, but still a few questions left..

TIA,
Regards
CB

[Pololo_Boxster]

Thank you so much for the valuable information. You are right about getting my nomenclature right...

Usually picture a MAF as a pipe/sensor included as in my older bimmers... DIdn't know the MAF are was part of the 986 airbox.

Couple of questions please(actually 3 ) :
1) Any 996 tune will do it? I am sure there's a difference between the base and the S version.
2) I have the 997 TB/plenum (in combination with the 987 airbox). Do I need the 996 intake as well? Is that a must or a nice to have? Was planning on keeping the 3.2S intake intact.
3) Suggestion for the pipes/bends to connect from the airbox to the plenum?

Already got the exhaust, and downpipes (no secondary cats)... but keeping the stock headers/manifold due to the emissions regulations in my county.

Was planning on leaving my car stock (wishful thinking lol)... but I can never manage to do that with my cars.

Once again, thank you so much for your help and feedback.

Regards
CB

Originally Posted by The Radium King

is up to you.

first, some nomenclature.

the maf is the sensor. the 986 maf is the same as the 987 maf.

the maf housing is the tube the maf mounts to. on the 986 it is part of the airbox. on the 987 it is a separate tube that attaches to the airbox.

the 986 maf housing is a smaller diameter than the 987 maf housing. the computer multiplies the maf reading by the cross-sectional area of the tube to determine flow. so, change the tube diameter and confuse the computer.

if you do not wish to do a flash then saw the maf housing off of your 986 airbox and plumb it all together. the 987 maf housing is not required.

otherwise, if you plumb it all together using the 987 maf housing then you need a flash that will work with this larger diameter. for a 2000 the solution is a 996 flash. the 996 of the same year had the larger intake tract and the 3.2 runs just fine with this flash. your dealer should be able to provide for you, or anyone with a piwis or pst2 contraption.

the benefits of the latter option are twofold; using the larger diameter maf housing removes a restriction to airflow. second, the thinking is that porsche neutered the boxster so as to not compete with the 996. otherwise a 3.2 should not be 50 hp down on a 3.4. there's only 3 places that can happen - exhaust, intake, ecu (fuelling, timing). so, an ebay exhaust, clean up the intake as much as you can (pro tip - bolt an intake manifold from a 3.4 onto your car) and 996 tune.

[Pololo_Boxster]

Thank you so much for the valuable information. You are right about getting my nomenclature right...

Usually picture a MAF as a pipe/sensor included as in my older bimmers... DIdn't know the MAF are was part of the 986 airbox.

Couple of questions please(actually 3 ) :
1) Any 996 tune will do it? I am sure there's a difference between the base and the S version.
2) I have the 997 TB/plenum (in combination with the 987 airbox). Do I need the 996 intake as well? Is that a must or a nice to have? Was planning on keeping the 3.2S intake intact.
3) Suggestion for the pipes/bends to connect from the airbox to the plenum?

Already got the exhaust, and downpipes (no secondary cats)... but keeping the stock headers/manifold due to the emissions regulations in my county.

Was planning on leaving my car stock (wishful thinking lol)... but I can never manage to do that with my cars.

Once again, thank you so much for your help and feedback.

Regards
CB

[The Radium King]

not sure if there was an 's' version of the 996 (at least in 2000 anyways). regardless, all 996 used the same tune.

the 997 (or 996) intake plenum (the 'tee') will fit on the boxster 3.2 intake. it is the same width but a slightly larger diameter - i was able to stretch the rubber boots to fit no problem.

what bends, etc. you use would depend on whether you are using the 986 or the 987 maf housing.

if you are going with the 986 unit i've got the assembly off my car i could probably part with (ie, when i did the airbox and tb/plenum but hadn't done the tune yet).

[Pololo_Boxster]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

not sure if there was an 's' version of the 996 (at least in 2000 anyways). regardless, all 996 used the same tune.

the 997 (or 996) intake plenum (the 'tee') will fit on the boxster 3.2 intake. it is the same width but a slightly larger diameter - i was able to stretch the rubber boots to fit no problem.

what bends, etc. you use would depend on whether you are using the 986 or the 987 maf housing.

if you are going with the 986 unit i've got the assembly off my car i could probably part with (ie, when i did the airbox and tb/plenum but hadn't done the tune yet).

Thank you. Do you mind if I send you a PM?

Regards,
CB

[Nitro V8]

Originally Posted by The Radium King

not sure if there was an 's' version of the 996 (at least in 2000 anyways). regardless, all 996 used the same tune.

the 997 (or 996) intake plenum (the 'tee') will fit on the boxster 3.2 intake. it is the same width but a slightly larger diameter - i was able to stretch the rubber boots to fit no problem.

what bends, etc. you use would depend on whether you are using the 986 or the 987 maf housing.

if you are going with the 986 unit i've got the assembly off my car i could probably part with (ie, when i did the airbox and tb/plenum but hadn't done the tune yet).

Hi
Did you eventually go with the 987 maf tube and tune? If so did you see a performance hp gain over the 986 maf tube?
Thank you

[The Radium King]

Originally Posted by Nitro V8

Hi
Did you eventually go with the 987 maf tube and tune? If so did you see a performance hp gain over the 986 maf tube?
Thank you

i did install the 987 maf tube and push a 996 tune onto the car. it sure felt like performance improved not nothing quantifiable. my thought exercise was that the hp difference between a 3.2 and a 3.4 was too large to be just due to displacement. intake, exhaust, and tune are the only other variables as the heads and bottom ends are the same. so, i improved intake and exhaust and put a 996 tune on it. all the porsche rats at the track think i am running a 3.4 and i can chase 987 spyders around pretty easy.